Orderin, a South African B2B delivery-as-a-service (DaaS) business, has secured pre-Series B investment of ZAR71 million (US $4.7 million) to help it grow its infrastructure and improve its last-mile delivery service.
Orderin, which was founded in 2013, is one of South Africa’s largest on-demand delivery businesses, with clients like McDonald’s and Pick n Pay.
Following earlier rounds of fundraising between 2018 and 2021, the money obtained in this latest round increases total investment to R303 million (US $19.85 million). In the immediate term, Orderin will utilise the funds to grow its patented DaaS technology with its current client base, offer DaaS for SMMEs in the medium term, and build a flywheel for its long-term objective of providing a platform for all sorts of businesses to have access to.
“E-commerce has been growing steadily over the last few years but the COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly accelerated this growth. Customer expectations have placed a demand on businesses for easy, quick and sometimes even free delivery options,” said Orderin CEO Thembani Biyam.
“Driving the growth and development of infrastructure will not only improve last-mile delivery and make it more accessible for businesses. This applies especially to SMMEs who can find it difficult to compete with larger enterprises on this point, but can also usher in a new future of e-commerce.”
Emerging technologies, according to Biyam, are playing a critical role in helping companies to satisfy strong customer demand for last-mile deliveries, with Orderin’s head of finance Vulnavia Gura citing AI and data science as areas in which the company will expand its capabilities.
“These technologies play a crucial role in enabling dynamic predictive models which permit our customers to circumvent these challenges at the speed needed for successful delivery. However, it is costly. The funding we raise allows us to scale our talent, tech and offering as we grow our customers and revenue,” Gura said.
“We are moving quickly to mature our operational and governance models — our investors demand it and our stakeholders expect it. We believe that as a young company entrusted with investors’ funds, we should create a reputation for prudence. This will engender confidence in future funders.”
